All-Party Parliamentary Group launched

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Oxford-Milton Keynes-Cambridge Corridor launched on January 31 in Westminster, with the event including a speech from Buckinghamshire County Council leader Martin Tett.

Martin addressed the event in his capacity as chairman of England’s Economic Heartland, the established partnership of county and unitary local authorities, local enterprise partnerships and growth boards stretching from Swindon to Cambridgeshire, which provides a single voice to Government on strategic infrastructure requirements.

The region could become the UK’s answer to Silicon Valley, but schemes such as East West Rail are required to unlock economic growth.Martin said: "The launch of the Oxford-MK-Cambridge APPG is another demonstration of the real momentum which is building behind this corridor, which with the right investment in strategic infrastructure, can leverage significant economic growth all the way from East Anglia to the west of England and south Wales, enabling us to compete for UK Plc on the global stage.”

He added that England’s Economic Heartland is developing an over-arching transport and infrastructure strategy for the region, while playing a key role in ensuring it has the digital infrastructure capable of supporting an area renowned for centres of science, technology and innovation.